


Thank God For Rumors

by 852_Prospect_Archivist



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: First Times, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2013-05-10
Packaged: 2017-12-11 10:55:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/797869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/852_Prospect_Archivist/pseuds/852_Prospect_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a light 'n' fluffy, happy first-time story, where Jim gets a clue and Blair is glad (eventually).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thank God For Rumors

## Thank God For Rumors

#### by krossero

Author's website: <http://krossero.livejournal.com>  
  
This is the first story I've ever posted! Thanks so much to the lovely Mab, who was incredibly helpful and patient with me. FEEDBACK!!!!! Please, please, please!! *grovels*  
  
This story is a sequel to: 

* * *

Thank God For Rumors 

Finally, this seemingly endless meeting with Simon was over. They'd been reviewing their latest case, discussing how to cover up the fact that a great deal of it had been solved with Jim's senses, rather than good old-fashioned detective work. This was Jim's least favorite part about the whole senses thing, the fact that they had to do so much work to hide it. But it was necessary, so he put up with it as best as he could, trying to be at least a little polite, though all he wanted to do was to go home. He rose wearily from the chair he'd been planted in, and said, "Okay, Simon, if we're finished here, we're going to take off now." 

"Wait just a minute, Jim. I need to talk to you in private for a moment." 

Jim paused at that; why would Blair be excluded? "Simon, can't we just get this over with? Sandburg knows pretty much everything that goes on around here anyway." 

Simon didn't answer, just looked straight at him, and Blair's hand on Jim's shoulder calmed his irritation a bit, as it always did. 

"Jim, it's fine, I'll just be waiting at the desk, okay? Simon, how long will this take? I'm tired, too, you know." 

"Sandburg." Simon glared. 

"Oh, right--how long will this take, _Sir_?" 

"Not too long. I'll see you tomorrow." Simon said, slightly mollified, but still obviously dismissing Blair. Blair walked out of the office with a grin. Everyone knew that Simon liked Blair; the Captain just didn't show it too often. 

"What's this about, Simon? It's been a long day." 

"I know it has, Jim, but I've got to talk to you, as a friend, and it's better now than later, when I won't want to talk about it. It hasn't escaped my notice that you and Sandburg are together, and I want to extend my congratulations to you, but what I don't understand is why you didn't tell me. You know I'm your friend first, and your boss second. I guess I'm a little hurt, and that's why I wanted to talk to you alone." 

Jim just stared at Simon, thunderstruck. He thought that Jim and Blair were together?! As in, a couple? Only in Jim's dreams. And there were _lots_ of those...Blair just didn't know about them. Nor would he ever, if Jim had anything to say about it. He pulled his jaw off the floor long enough to say sarcastically, "Well, gee, Simon, maybe I would have told you--if we were actually together." 

Simon said in a surprised voice, "You're not? I was so sure, after today...why not?" 

"What do you mean, why not? Sandburg's straight." Jim looked at Simon, wondering what was wrong with him. "You've seen the women he dates. You've known the man as long as I have. Where's this coming from?" 

Simon was giving him a look he didn't like. "It's times like this when I don't understand how you ever made detective of the year-and you're a sentinel to boot! How could you not see the way he looks at you? Or is this because you don't feel the way he does? Because _that_ I was positive of. What is it?" 

Jim tried to make sense of his boss's words, he really did, but he had to ask, "What do you mean, Simon? I'm not getting you here." 

"Let me spell it out for you--Sandburg is in love with you. It's written all over his face every time he looks at you. And I thought that you felt the same way about him, because you certainly act like it. So I made the assumption that the two of you were together. Which, apparently, you're not. Again, I ask: why?" 

"Fuck, Simon. I didn't think it was that obvious how I feel about him, but...you think he feels the same way? You're wrong. He's as straight as the day is long." 

"Shit. You really are the most oblivious man I have ever met. Think about it, Jim. You can't tell me that you haven't noticed it at _all_. I mean, seriously, everyone else has." 

"There's nothing _to_ notice, Simon. He doesn't think of me as anything more than a friend, I can guarantee that. And what do you mean, everyone else has noticed?" 

"We've all seen it, Jim. And we've ignored it, because we don't want to separate you two. You're the best team we have. You haven't heard anyone talking about it?" 

Jim huffed out a breath of annoyance. Of course he'd heard the rumors; hyperactive hearing sort of made that a given. "I ignore the rumors. They've been going around since he showed up here. But--you don't really think he could feel the same way as I do, do you, Simon?" He said this last part with a little hope in his voice, not really believing it, but desperately wanting it to be true. 

"I'm as sure as I can be that he does, Jim. I suggest you talk to him about it, and soon. It's not something the two of you should ignore. You already make a better pair than you and Carolyn ever did. Now, get out of here and go home." 

Jim stood, and took a moment to compose himself. This was certainly not anything near what he'd expected; this was shocking and terrifying and, well, it was great, too. If Simon really thought that Jim had a chance with Blair- well, maybe he did. He grinned at Simon, and thanked him, moving toward the door, pausing for a moment before opening it, as Simon said, "Oh, and Jim, before you go, you might want to wipe that look off your face. You look like you've just discovered the cure for cancer." 

Jim smiled at Simon again, a little distractedly, and left the office. He walked over to the desk that he shared with Blair, and began to gather up their stuff to leave. 

"Hey, Jim. That took a while. What's up?" 

"Nothing, Chief. Simon just wanted to talk to me about something personal. No bad news." 

"Okay then. Let's go home. I'm starving, and it's your turn to cook." If Blair was bothered that Jim didn't tell him what was going on, he didn't show it. 

Jim grinned. "Yeah, it is...I was thinking maybe, Wonderburger for a change?" 

"Ha! As if." 

They chatted easily as they left, and Blair didn't seem to notice that Jim's mind wasn't fully there. The whole night, he thought about Simon's words, and what his own would be to Blair, if he could get up the courage to actually say something, after all this time of hiding his feelings. 

Now, Jim and Blair sat in the living room of the loft, relaxing after a full day at the station. They each sat at one end of the couch, and had most of their attention directed towards the television, with the exception of Jim, who was dividing his attention between the game and his nervousness at what he planned to do soon. Very soon. 

He knew now what he would say, and he thought that he really did have a good chance. He'd spent the entire night going over his past with Blair, using a technique that Blair called sense memory. After a lot of reflection, he could remember times, some in the very recent past, when Blair had looked at him a certain way, times that Blair had been aroused--apparently by Jim. So, all he had to do was to bring it up, and see Blair's reaction. Easier said than done, but Jim had an idea. 

He looked over at Blair, who appeared to be absorbed in the show. He smiled at his friend, and said casually, "So, Sandburg. I heard a pretty good rumor at the station today. Really steamy. You wanna hear about it?" 

Blair gave him a searching look; he knew that Jim never eavesdropped if he could help it. 

Obviously, he decided to bite, because he said, "Sure, man. Who was it about?" 

Jim grinned evilly and said, "It was about you, Chief." 

Blair grinned back at him and said, "Oh, yeah? So was it about me and Tracy, or me and Sue? Or maybe Jessica?" 

"Nope, wrong on all counts. Actually, it was quite the opposite. This rumor has it that you--Blair chase-after-anything-in-a-skirt Sandburg--would rather be with me than with any of those women. And let me tell ya, Chief, I haven't worn a skirt for years now." 

_Okay,_ Jim thought, _now all I have to do is wait._ Easy-peasy. Or not. 

* * *

Blair wondered what the hell this was about. It wasn't as if the rumors hadn't been flying for years now, and he said as much. 

"Ah, but Chief, there's a difference here- this was a very reliable source. Extremely credible, if you know what I mean." 

Blair _didn't_ know what Jim meant, all he knew was that he really hated that "I'm a Sentinel, you can't lie to me" look that Jim sometimes got, usually in response to some bullshit statement from a criminal. Well, now Blair was getting that look, full on, and at the last time he would ever, ever want to get it. Of course he'd rather be with Jim than any of those women, he loved Jim, but Jim couldn't know that, could he? Ohdearlord, but what if he _did_ know? The `credible source' could be Jim's senses--fuck. He'd _known_ that Jim would figure it out eventually, but he still wasn't ready for it, not now, not ever. 

But, hell, he had to come up with _something_ to tell Jim--not the truth, but not an obvious lie, either, because he knew that the look Jim was giving him now meant that he was monitoring Blair with his senses. Hearing his heart rate increase, seeing the blood rush almost imperceptibly to his face, smelling the sweat that was beginning to break out lightly all over Blair's body. Now if only he'd taste and touch--NO! Bad Blair! He tossed _that_ thought out the window as fast as he could, and laughed as steadily as he could. 

"Well, a rumor's still a rumor, right?" Then another thought occurred to him, no more reassuring than the possibility of Jim's senses clueing him in to Blair's secret. "Wait--that's not what Simon wanted to talk to you about today, is it?" He couldn't help the fact that his voice rose in a little bit of panic at the end there- if Simon was the one telling this to Jim, there was a really good chance that Jim would believe it, and Blair would end up out on his ass in the street. 

"Got it in one, Chief. But don't worry; I didn't believe him." 

Dizzying relief swept through Blair, and he said a little shakily, "Oh, good, you don't, of course you don't. Just a stupid little rumor--" He broke off as Jim's hand waved sexily in front of his face--wait, could a hand _wave_ sexily? Oh, yeah, silly him, it was Jim's hand; _everything_ it did was sexy--and Jim interrupted him. 

"Yup. Of course, the only reason I didn't believe him was because he said that you want _me_ more than _I_ want _you_. And from my point of view, that's pretty much impossible." 

* * *

Jim waited, amused and still nervous, for what he'd said to sink in to Blair's cute little brain. Hold on, could a _brain_ be cute? Yeah, he guessed it could, because everything about Blair was cute--and damn sexy, too. He watched as Blair processed his words. 

Puzzlement. 

Confusion. 

Wait-there's the light bulb! 

Understanding. 

Joy. 

_Lust._

Blair was looking at Jim now with this mixture of hope and love and hunger that nearly made Jim want to pass out, but passing out could wait, most definitely, because now Blair's lips- his sweet, wonderful lips- were parted, and his tongue- his gorgeous, incredibly hot tongue-was gliding across those perfect lips, and he was saying, "So, Jim, a rumor? I always thought that rumors were--" 

But whatever rumors were or weren't was lost as Jim claimed Blair's sweet, wonderful, perfect lips with his own in a kiss that started out gently and somehow ended up with both of them in Jim's bed. Neither man was sure of exactly how they'd gotten there, but they certainly weren't complaining. 

Soon, it wasn't only their tongues that were tangled, but their entire bodies, as they made great, wonderful, imperfect first-time love together. Jim elbowed Blair in the side; Blair nearly fell off the bed twice. But it was the most intense love-making either had ever experienced, and they didn't last long, soon sinking into a sated, happy, sticky sleep. 

* * *

"Hey, Jim?" Blair asked quietly from within Jim's arms later that night. Both men were cleaned up, thanks to Jim's quick trip to the bathroom for a warm, wet washcloth, and were snuggling close in that warm, hazy state between sleep and wakefulness. 

"Mmmm?" was the semi-coherent reply from behind him. 

"I was just thinking about this rumor I heard going around recently. About _you_." 

"Mmmm." Jim repeated. 

Blair snickered a bit; apparently his lover was a little worn out. 

"Well, anyway, I just wanted you to know, _I_ don't think you're a lousy lay at all." 

There was enough of a mischievous tone to his voice that Jim didn't take him too seriously. 

In fact, Blair's little quip was rewarded with a teasing slap on his ass, and a nibble to his ear that made Blair Jr. begin to come back from the dead. All he had time to think before Jim started in on him again was, _Oh, thank god for rumors!_

* * *

End 

Thank God For Rumors by krossero: krossero@yahoo.com  
Author and story notes above.

Disclaimer: _The Sentinel_ is owned etc. by Pet Fly, Inc. These pages and the stories on them are not meant to infringe on, nor are they endorsed by, Pet Fly, Inc. and Paramount. 


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